


Rainstorms & Rose Perfume

by writingwithmolls



Series: My Heart Belongs to (All of) You [5]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Bathing/Washing, F/F, Fluff, Multi, Nudity, Polyamory, References to Edelgard's past, Scars, little bit of angst just for Reun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:27:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27373444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writingwithmolls/pseuds/writingwithmolls
Summary: When a rainfall interrupts their date, Byleth, Edelgard, and Dorothea stumble home soaked and looking for warmth. While a bath seems like the perfect solution, Edelgard is uncomfortable with the interaction and needs some encouragement to open up to her loves about her view of herself.FE3H Polyship Week Day 5: Cuddling/Firsts
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault/Edelgard von Hresvelg, Dorothea Arnault/Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth, Dorothea Arnault/My Unit | Byleth, Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Series: My Heart Belongs to (All of) You [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1994713
Comments: 16
Kudos: 41
Collections: FE3H Polyship Week





	Rainstorms & Rose Perfume

**Author's Note:**

> The inspiration for this fic is based off of [this beautiful artwork by @IOkuso on Twitter](https://twitter.com/IOkuso/status/1294685205920243724?s=20)
> 
> (and yes, this is also me admitting that I've been sitting on this fic since August)
> 
> As said in the tags, but a content warming for discussion of scars in reference to Edelgard's past in-canon.

“I swear that cloud came out of nowhere…” Dorothea muttered, kicking off her soaked shoes as soon as they entered the main hall of the castle, opting to carry them in one hand and letting her feet glide against the cold tile of the foyer. Byleth dropped the soaking wet blanket they had spread on the grass on one of the tables lining the hall, the sad basket of damp food only half eaten next to it.

“All is well.” Edelgard waved off an attendant who rushed to her aid. “We just got caught in the storm, we will return to our quarters.”

“We’re going to trail a flood through the whole castle,” Byleth said, but Dorothea hushed her and took her free hand, pulling her along and up the stairs. Perhaps their picnic date had been ruined by the rain, and perhaps she was shivering to the point of her teeth chattering—but Dorothea’s hand was warm in hers. “El, give me your hands, your fingers are turning blue.”

She reached out and grabbed both of her partner’s hands in just one of hers, pressing them together. Edelgard had to walk through the halls at a strange angle due to it, and they passed several of Byleth’s former students as the three of them traversed to their bedroom. Byleth nodded towards them, but had her hands full. An autumn picnic was her idea, but none of them could have guessed how  _ cold _ it would leave them after they had refused to acknowledge the grey clouds that had snuck up like a shadow.

“So much for the food,” Edelgard said as they made it to their room, their hair dripping into the plush carpet as the droplets continued to roll off their bodies. “Why is it so cold? The sun disappeared and it might as well have been winter.”

“You need to wash up,” Dorothea urged, letting go of Byleth and pressing her thumb to Edelgard’s lips as they trembled. Her own hair was masking her serious expression, her emerald eyes shining through the curtain. “I’m afraid you’ll freeze.”

“Take a bath first,” Edelgard insisted, Byleth laughing lightly as half of her hair fell out of its carefully constructed bun. “I can wait.”

“Together, then,” Dorothea said. “Help me with the water, darling.” A quick kiss was pressed to her temple and Byleth joined Dorothea on her way to the washroom. There was already water out, so she did the heavy lifting and dumped the buckets into the small tub. She spilled a bit on the floor, but it hardly mattered when the two women were already dripping directly onto it.

Edelgard hovered in the doorway, watching the two women as the rest of her hair began to fall from the weight of the water. Dorothea had abandoned the bucket effort when she saw Byleth had it under control and opted to browse the soaps and perfumes that lined the shelves. Most of them had been gifts, collected during their many years of partnership. Byleth knew that Dorothea would choose the rose-scented oil despite her careful consideration of the options. She dumped another bucket into the tub, not caring that it splashed back up onto her already-wet clothes.

Byleth looked to the songstress quickly, then had to do a double-take because she had already abandoned her clothes in a pile on the floor without so much as a noise giving her away. “How?”

“Practice,” she teased, throwing her arms around Byleth and tugging at her cloak. “Plenty of practice,” Dorothea reiterated, “for my two loves.”

She cracked a smile at the crude joke, letting Dorothea undress her and toss the soggy clothes aside into the growing pile. She loved the way Dorothea’s fingers tickled her skin, regardless of how cold they were from the storm. Byleth treasured how much they knew of one another, down to their bare skin. The way Dorothea understood what touches would set her body alight, how in the moment she kept to intimate presses that calmed her, touches that made her feel safe.

Edelgard looked hesitant, not immediately shedding her clothes like the other two. Byleth realized in a pang of guilt that she had never seen her partner completely nude—that she might be uncomfortable with them just dragging her into the water.

“El,” Byleth said as Dorothea was swirling perfumed soap into the water, the aroma rising from the bath and encapsulating the room. Her hair was long enough to cover her breasts as she knelt in front of the tub. “We can take turns if you’re not comfortable.”

“I…” she trailed off, her eyes darting between both of her partners before continuing, “think it will be okay. Just please be gentle.”

“Of course we will be, I don’t think we were planning on anything other than bathing,” Byleth assured. “We want you to feel safe above all.”

Edelgard nodded slowly before she began to undress. She pulled her gloves off, folding them carefully before putting them on the counter. Her tights came next, then her dress and underclothes all in a similar fashion—carefully folded rather than joining the messy pile that Dorothea and Byleth had discarded. She pressed her crown firmly on top of the pile.

Byleth watched with soft eyes, doing her best to keep a neutral expression as she saw the white scars that covered Edelgard’s body. She had seen her legs and their various wounds, as well as her arms on the nights where sleeping with longer sleeves was nearly impossible due to the heat, but her torso was covered in them. The patchwork of angry and jagged scratches, raised patches where the skin didn’t heal over completely.

Byleth looked back up to her face, the flush of her skin as she held her arms over her chest.

“Come, darling, you’re still shivering,” Dorothea urged. “The water isn’t much better, but then we can put on clean clothes.”

Dorothea held out her hand and Edelgard took it, carefully stepping into the bathwater and tucking her knees up close to her chest. Byleth followed suit, and Dorothea squeezed in between both of them as she tied her hair up and out of the water. There was hardly enough room for two, much less three, but the women curled up around each other, legs tangling in a knotted mess. Edelgard’s face was bright red, not looking her partners in the eyes.

Wanting to respect her privacy, she shifted her attention to her songstress. Byleth watched as Dorothea tilted her head, her ponytail barely touching the water. The slope of her neck was beautiful, her side profile not obscured by her thick hair. Wisps of brown framed her bare face. She still had dangling earrings adorning her ears, the green stone matching the jade of her eyes. 

“Your earrings,” Byleth said, leaning forward and gently removing them from Dorothea’s ears and setting them on the edge of the tub, one by one, “they shouldn’t get wet.”

“Thank you, darling.” She kissed her fingers before letting Byleth’s hand fall back underneath the water.

Byleth smiled before she caught sight of Edelgard once more, staring at the water and not relinquishing her grip on herself. Her lilac eyes were set on the surface, not looking up.

“El, do you want to hold my hand?” she asked.

Edelgard nodded and took it, their fingers lacing together as Dorothea hummed to herself. It was shaking slightly and Byleth hesitated on what to say. There was always a certain balance when it came to comforting the emperor… a decision on whether or not she wanted encouragement or just a silent acknowledgement of her struggles. Then again, wasn’t it the same with all of them? There was no guaranteed solution to every problem, no way to assure that they were saying what was right in the moment.

So Byleth squeezed her hand. “You’re beautiful.”

Edelgard’s face darkened. “Not like this.”

Byleth bit her lip nervously, and Dorothea turned to their partner as well. “Edie, do you want me to wash your hair.”

“I don’t need pity.” Edelgard’s voice was sharp against Dorothea’s soft words. It dug into them like a set of fangs, gripping on and not letting go. It hung in the air as Edelgard dropped Byleth’s hand and curled up into herself once more. “I’m sorry. I have no right to lash out.”

“We can talk,” Dorothea suggested. “We could also step away for now.”

Byleth was grateful to have Dorothea with her. Whenever she thought of their relationship on a smaller scale, she realized how unbalanced it would be if just one of them was not included. To be loved by both of her partners always seemed like her only option—she didn’t know if she would be able to do it with just one or the other. She never wanted to hurt Edelgard, but she always feared that in one wrong move, all they had would shatter like glass.

“I don’t like how my body looks,” Edelgard finally said after much consideration. “I know both of you will argue, but it reminds me of what they did to me. Every day. It makes me feel undesirable and—” She didn’t finish the thought, instead covering her face with her hands and shaking her head. “I want to be loved by you more than anything. It’s unattractive and I fear that you two will like one another… more, which is selfish.”

Dorothea paused, about to reach out and touch her, but hesitating and bringing her hand back to herself. “Thank you for telling us, Edie. We love you.”

“Love and attraction are not the same.”

“You’re beautiful,” Byleth spoke up, not pausing even when Dorothea put a hand on her knee, as if to ask her to stop. “You’re like a painting, El. You look so powerful when you’re standing in front of the armies and crowds… you have such a sharp look in your eyes. And at night you look at Dorothea with such admiration, and your eyelashes flutter like wings as you begin to fall asleep. You’re gorgeous when we bed you—even when you’re mostly clothed—and I don’t think I could take my eyes off of you now even if I tried. My heart is pounding.” It was the truth, she could feel it dancing in her chest.

Byleth touched her  _ own  _ chest, the juncture between her breasts where the jagged scar that was much smaller than Edelgard’s but ran over her heart lay—where her crest once resided. “They subjected your body to cruelties for your crest, but that never took your shine away, El. We love you… all of you. We find all of you attractive.”

“You had my eyes from the minute we were introduced,” Dorothea assured, following up Byleth’s words. “My adoration only grew from there, Edie. We want you and we will always want you, I promise.”

“Both of you…” Edelgard began, but then sunk into the tub, her legs tangling with theirs and a blush spreading across her cheeks. Byleth was worried that she had spoken the wrong words, but she was still in awe of her partner. How she could stand so tall regardless of the terrors brought unto her as a child, and how she still fought even now to right things. Byleth had two powerful women by her side, with sparkling personalities and open arms. Open hearts.

“I love you El. I love you as well, Dorothea.” Byleth felt the warmth spreading, even in the cold water of their impromptu bath. “I would be lost if it wasn’t for either of you.”

“You wouldn’t, but I love you all the same.” Dorothea leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on her lips. “And Edie—I think we should talk more about this. Perhaps not now… but some other time we can make tea and sit wrapped in blankets and talk about what this will mean for our intimacy.”

“I think I want to try more with you,” Edelgard admitted, sinking lower so that her hair rested in the water. This time, she reached out her hands and took both Dorothea’s and Byleth’s, balancing them on her knees. “I just don’t want to ruin the fun that both of you have when I get too overwhelmed.”

“Your comfort matters more than our pleasure,” Dorothea said, squeezing her hand. “If there’s anything we can do to make you feel safe, we’re going to do it.”

“We’re going to listen to you.” Byleth leaned forward, kissing her knuckles and feeling her hair falling to touch the water as well. “You’re our beautiful love, it would be foolish not to.”

When it was time for them to get dressed, their fingers and toes were pruned and their hair was only half-wet. Byleth got out first, helping Edelgard to her feet and immediately throwing a towel around her and wrapping her in her arms, doing her best to bring her any warmth that she could manage. “You did good, El.”

“Thank you,” she responded. Although she was still pensive, there was a brighter look on her face and Byleth was relieved.

Dorothea got out of the water, leaning back over the edge to unblock the drain, shaking jokingly at Byleth who just tossed a towel at her before earning a laugh and a kiss.

The three returned to their room to dress, all wrapped in white, fluffy towels, embraced in Dorothea’s rose-scented perfume, and warmed with the sincerity of one another’s words.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! My name is Molly and I'm an author who writes about wlw <3
> 
> If you like my work, please support me by following @ mollymariewrites on Instagram! There you can find my Twitter, my published work, as well as get updates about my various sapphic own-voices projects! Thank you so much for your help <3


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